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15 Dead Celebrities Who Are Ridiculously Overrated

We all die. None of us like to think about it a whole lot, but every one of us is going to pass away at some point. And when we do, people are going to be sad, but sooner or later our memory will fade and people will slowly start to forget about us.

That is, unless you happen to be a celebrity. Then a lot of the time the exact opposite thing happens. People not only start thinking about you more, they start talking about you more. Look at Prince for example. When was the last time you heard him mentioned by anyone? Then the guy dies and all of a sudden he is all anyone can talk about, and people are acting like they lost a member of their own family.

That is not the worst of it though. Some people sort of become legends in death, when they really were not all that great to begin with. If a lot of the people on this list had lived they either would have faded into obscurity, or just eventually would have gotten old, which of course would have made them less cool. But in death they became legends. Other celebrities that have died were overrated when they were still alive, so why wouldn’t death be the same thing?

For some reason people love to act like it really hurts them when a celebrity dies. It is kind of a cool thing to do these days. If there is one thing that is for sure, though, there are a whole lot of overrated dead celebrities out there. Here are 15 of them.

15. Patrick Swayze

Now I feel a little bad about this one. Patrick seemed like a nice guy, and was a huge star who was ridiculously popular. He appeared in such movies as Dirty Dancing, Point Break, Road House and Ghost. He died of pancreatic cancer at age 57. The thing is, Swayze just was not a very good actor. So the reality is he was overrated, and then death just sort of kept that rolling along. I guess all we can say to that is “Wolverines!”

14. Tupac Shakur

Tupac was one of the most popular rappers ever. He was also involved in a long-running feud with Biggie Smalls, who is also on this list. There are a lot of rumors that Tupac and Biggie’s deaths had something to do with each other because both are still unsolved, but the reality is both of them died because they lived their lives like complete idiots. A few hours before he was killed, Tupac was beating up a member of the famed LA gang The Crips. Not a good idea. He is another on this list that has stayed famous because of the “tragic” way he died.

13. Chris Farley

Farley was kind of funny. Mostly because he was big and would overreact as much as possible. Other than his acting career, he was known for partying way too much and died from an overdose of morphine and cocaine. While it is sad that he passed away, the simple fact is that if he had lived he would probably be performing in nightclubs right now and selling his autograph on the internet. This guy was not built to last. Even if he was built like a brick sh**house.

12. Ryan Dunn

Ryan Dunn was a member of the Jackass and Viva La Bam crew, all of whom have totally faded into oblivion at this point. Dunn was a relatively wealthy celebrity purely for acting like an idiot, and being kind of hammered all the time. He died in a car crash. He was driving around 140 miles an hour and had a blood alcohol content over twice the legal limit. If he didn’t die he would now be like Chris Pontius, instead of a hero. Who is Chris Pontius you might ask? Exactly.

11. River Phoenix

River Phoenix was a good actor, there is no doubt about that. He also became a bit of a teen idol, and was one of those rare actors who could be in the huge Hollywood blockbuster and also was beloved as an indie film actor as well. He died of a drug overdose outside of a Los Angeles club called The Viper Room when he was 23 years old in 1993. This one act made him forever cool and tragic, while if he were still alive now he would be in his mid-40’s and probably not too cool at all.

10. Biggie Smalls

Biggie was a West coast rapper who was known for being very influential on the scene and also for his long running feud with Tupac. He was murdered in 1997 – the killer has still not been caught. While Biggie was without a doubt a very good rapper, he still makes this list because since his death there have been millions of suburban white kids trying to be cool by mentioning his name. Sorry Biggie, not your fault. We’re sure you’re rolling over in your grave.

9. Jim Morrison

Morrison is thought of as a true rock legend. He was the lead singer of The Doors, was totally good looking and also was a true bad boy, getting arrested here and there and very into drugs. He was found dead in a bathtub at 27 year old. The thing is, The Doors just were not that good, and Morrison was not that talented. It was all just a product of the time they were around. If Morrison was still around today, as a fat 70-year-old, people would probably totally ignore him.

8. Dimebag Darrell

Dimebag Darrell was the guitarist of Pantera, which was one of the most successful metal bands of all time. He makes this list because he became much more famous for dying then for being alive. He was a decent guitarist, and Pantera was okay, but most people didn’t know who he was until he was shot and killed on stage. Then all of a sudden, a whole bunch of bandwagon fans jumped on board, acting just so sad that this huge tragedy happened to Dimebag.

7. Brad Nowell

Nowell was the lead singer of Sublime, the band that brought us the hit songs What I got and Santeria. He makes this list because even though Sublime was a bit popular, they really blew up after he died from a heroin overdose. The simple fact of him dying by overdose made Sublime one of the most popular bands around for a year or so. The album released after his death sold 6 million copies. So his overdose ended up making his bandmates a lot of money.

6. Paul Walker

Paul Walker was an actor who was known for being in all of the Fast and the Furious movies, and let’s face it those movies were horrible. He died as a passenger in a car crash. The car was going way too fast and was thought to be drifting. While it is sad that he died, the fact is he was an average actor, who was in some really bad movies, and died doing something really stupid. All of which are reasons that he is on this list. Sorry, Paul.

5. Amy Winehouse

Winehouse was a moderately talented singer who used ridiculous amounts of drugs and alcohol, which is how she died. She was talented, but not all that great, but people love watching a train wreck and Amy was all of that and more. While she was overrated in life, her death made her even more so. She is the perfect example of the weird phenomenon of people acting all sad because celebrities died. So many people acted all morose after her death that it was ridiculous.

4. Michael Jackson

I know what you are going to say. Michael Jackson? How is he overrated; he is like the most popular musical artist ever? Well you just answered your own question. While undeniably talented he was mostly famous for being arguably the biggest freak of nature of all time. I mean, that dude was at most a massive pedophile, and at the least incredibly weird. Do you think if he had a personality like Will Smith he would have been as famous as he was? I will answer that question for you. No, he would not.

3. Kurt Cobain

Nirvana was massively popular, and they were also really good. There is no doubt about either of those things. But would they still be so popular if Cobain had not died of a suicide? No, they would not. Cobain would have gotten old, and the band would have put out some bad albums and his reputation would have taken some hits. Instead he died right at the perfect time to make him an icon forever.

2. Whitney Houston

Whitney was one of the very best selling female musical performers of all time. She sold close to 200 million records. At one point she was really looked up to and thought of as a relatively classy lady, but then she started hanging out with Bobby Brown and it was all fights and drugs after that. She drowned in a bathtub, in part because of cocaine use. She is not so much overrated because of her death, more so because of how she lived her life her last few years, which still makes her an overrated dead celebrity.

1. Robin Williams

Robin Williams was one of the most famous actors of our time, he also was just really not that good. I mean, seriously, the truth hurts but he just was not that funny. He apparently was suffering with mental illness and depression and died by hanging. He is perhaps the greatest example of the odd phenomenon of people acting WAAAY too sad about a performer’s death. The guy was an actor, not your best friend. That reaction combined with the fact that he simply was not all that great places Robin Williams at number one on this list.